Differences Between AIADMK Factions Intensify
Thalavai Sundaram and Agri Krishnamurthy representing the group led by party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and Vijayabaskar and Kamaraj from the faction led by C V Shanmugham called on the Speaker, J C D Prabhakar to complain about their rival factions.
Chennai: The rift in the AIADMK, triggered by the differences that rose over extending support to the new government of the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) when it sought the vote of confidence, widened on Thursday when the two groups called on the Speaker and requested action against rival faction members who defied the ‘whip.’
Thalavai Sundaram and Agri Krishnamurthy representing the group led by party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and Vijayabaskar and Kamaraj from the faction led by C V Shanmugham called on the Speaker, J C D Prabhakar to complain about their rival factions. The groups are also planning to take up the matter with the Governor and seek expulsion of the rivals from the Assembly.
Palaniswami, in a statement on Thursday said that the people had voted in favour of the AIADMK which was evident from the party winning 47 seats and its allies 6 seats, but some leaders and former Ministers aspiring for ministerial berths and other posts in government boards extended support to the TVK during the vote of confidence.
He said those six former Ministers were enticed with a promise of accommodating them the Ministry and other welfare board posts, which had caused anxiety among the grassroots level workers of the AIADMK.
Those people who betrayed the party had also spread rumours about the leaders, including him, and denigrated their work with a view to ensuring the return of the DMK to power, he said.
Palaniswami also continued on Thursday the purge of senior leaders from party positions like that of district secretaries that he started on Wednesday after the vote of confidence and appointed new people for those posts. He also held a meeting of the new office-bearers.
Since the number of MLAs backing the faction of Shanmugham and S P Velumani was more than that of those Palaniswami, the rival group claimed that they were entitled were entitled to appoint the whip, while Palaniswami maintained that as general secretary of the party it was he who was empowered to nominate the whip.
Palaniswami gave a call to the party cadre to defeat the designs of the power crazy leaders by uniting against their mechanizations. He recalled the aftermath of the 1980 and 1996 elections when the AIADMK was routed, leading to several leaders leaving the party, and said the AIADMK survived those setbacks because the cadre stood by the party.
